Machine for ballast-burning.



S. B. FLEMING.

MACHINE FOB BALLAST BURNING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1010.

Patented May 30, 1911.

Whammy M QAWA mtw S. B. FLEMING.

111110111111: FOR BALLAST BURNING.

APPLICATION TILED AUG.8.1910.

Patented m 30, 1911.

3 BHEETS-SHEIIT 2.

m 1 W 1mm .3 5 m 1% r0 1 1.5. g m. 1 4 m Whvwssew.

S. B. FLEMING.

MACHINE FOR BALLAST BURNING.

I I APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 8, 1910.

Patented May 30, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

'W'Wmwam:

SAMUEL LB. FLEMING, 01 (IlIHICAG/O, ILLINOIS.

MACIEIINE FOR BALLAST-BURNING.

993,590. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 19.11.

Application filed August 8, 1910. Serial No. 576,085.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

B 1 it known that .I, SAMUEL B. FLnMiNo, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of (look, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Ballasturning, of which the following is a specificatio r In accordance lvith the present well known methods ,of bzfllast burning, the clay or earth is placed upon the long bank of tire by means of a machine commonly known as adigging machine, which nachine provided with suitable shovel? for digging the clay and discharging it of the fire bank. After the clay has been placed on the fire bank and has been burned for a certain length of time, it is desirable to break up and more or less disintegrate or separate the upper crust-like surface of the tire bank before placing another layer of coal t he reon. Herctofore, ithas been the ordinary practice to remove the shovels 'from the digging machine and replace the same with large heavy d rags or' rakes which are then used for breaking up and stirriiu, or raking the upper surface of the fire hank.

hese machines are large pomlerous all'airs, built on flat cars or other suitable trucks. and in order to use the same el'l'wrtively. a long stripof fire must he raked-at one time before more cool or slack. as is commonly used, is placed thereon. The coal or slack. by the method heretofore used. is usually distributed by means of a coal handling machine whichdelivers the coal out over the fire, eitherv to a shovelcrs platform, from whence it maybe shoveled by hand. or to a mechanical spreading device. In the usual manner in which the digging machine. which, as'above pointed out, is also used for thedragging or raking; proces and the coal handling machines are operated, it is practically impossibleto place the coal on the fire immediately after the dragging or rakinc operation; Frequently. there are long delays between a dragging or raking operation and the spreading of the new layer of coal, which causes alarge waste of coal and also tends to injure the quality of the ballast being burned. I

One of the principal objects of the present; invention is to provide means whereby the face or surface of the fire bank may he raked or dragged immediately ahead of the coal spreading device so that there will, at

upon the face I no time, be any considerable amount of bank raked or (hugged before the coal is placed thereon. In order to accomplish this. object and such other objects as will be hereinafter pointed out, I have providcda combined raking or dragging and coal handling or spreading machine, which machine also em bodies various other novel features and improvements which will be described hereinallcr and which are shown in the accompanlviue' drawings, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of my improved machine, parts being shown diagraumuitica'lly on account of the difliculty of showing a machine of such large size on a greatly reduced scale; Fig. 2 is 21 diagri'aunnatieal end view illustrating the coal spreadingportion of the machine; Fig. 3 is a diag'i-ammatical end view illustrating the raking or dragging portion of the machine: Figs. l and 5 are details of the coal spreading or iilistrilmting, devices; and Fig. (i is a detail of the rake or fork arm sup port.

As shown in these drawings, '4 indicates a railway car-or movable support, which may boot any ordinary or preferred form of construction but which is preferably made sullich-ntly large and strong: to be. lasting and durable under the conditions of use to which it hsubiect'ed. his car moves on a track H illtlll fl' l llt. edge of the bank from which the lay is du{ to be placed on the Face ol the lire bank 9. V This car may he provided with self-pro 'ielling mechanism or may be moved along the traekhv means oi. a locomotive. either method being; well known at the present time, in so Far as the movcuuul' of such cars or machines are concerned. M the forward end of the car 7 is a boom 10 of sulilcieut length to extend out over the coal supply car'll, which supply cart are hrmurht up full of coal. or slack and lhen rcn'mved a t ter being; emptied. The coal is unloaded from the car it by means of a shovel l9 which is operated by means of a drag cable 13 which passes up over a' suitable sheave in the mast 14 and down to one of the drums 15 of a hoisting engine, and a tail or return cable 16 which passes from the rear end of the bucket. around a sheave l? at the outer end of the boom 10, and thence over a suitable sheave on the most 14 and down to the winding drum 18 of the same hoisting engine. This bucket carries the coal from the car 11 up and over an apron 19 between such car and the car 7, and thence along a suitable platform or guideway 20, and dumps the same into a hopper 21. n. conveyer 22 extends out at the side of the car and is adapted to receive the coal. from the hopper and carry it out over the fire. The discharge of the coal from the hopper may be regulated by any suitable mechanism, such for instance as a gate or slide 23 which may be operated by means of a rod 24 which extends out to an operators platform 25 about midway of the conveyor 22. The conveyor 22 is provided with a trough, along which the coal is moved by means of a chain 26 provided with suitable flights in the well known manner. This trough is made in two sections 27 and 28. The section 27, which extends out from the car to about the-center of the conveyor, is stationary; while the section 28 is movable ion. .t'udinally of the conveyer frame, as best shown in detail in Fig. 5, the object of this being so thatthe coal may be discharged at vai ving distances from the outer end of .the conveyor,' or, in other words, so that the coal may be spread along the face of the tire bank. The particular spreading mechanism shown herein. forms one of the novel features this invention, and will now be described.

All the outer end of the trough 28 is a circular discharge spout 29 having an outwardly extending; flange 30 at the lower end tl'iereot. Fitting over the spout 29 so to be rotatable thereon is an auxiliary spout or "discharge member 31, which member is provizier l with an internal. groove fitting over the .t Ange 30, and is preferably made in halves that it may be bolted in its open tive position. T he mouth of the discharge opening of the spout 31 is widened as indicated in Fig. 5 so to direct the coal onto the spreader pro )er in a comparatively wide stream. Pivotecl at 32 to the lower end of the spout 31 is the spreader p ropcr 33, which spreader consists of a plate having diverging sides and which is provided with a number of deflectors 34. for deflecting the coal so that it will be s )read out to dischar 'e alon the entire lower edge of the plate. .It desired, the discharge plate may also be provided with perforations 35 so as to allow some of the coal to fail thcrcthrough This spreader is adjustably held in position by its pivotal connection with the spout and by means of chains or other suitable connecting devices 36 extending from the sides of the spreader to hooks 37 on a support 38 ex tei'iding outwardly from the spout 31. It will be readily seen that; by means of this construction the ncader 33 may be revolved so that it will. extend at any desired. angle from the end ot' the movable portion of the conveyor trough.

Any suitable means may be provided for reciprocating, the movable portion 28 of the conveyer trough, such means, however, be ing omitted, as the particular form thereof is not included in the present invention. In the ordinary coalingprocess, the coal is spread up and down along the face of the tire bank, which, with my improved spreading device, is readily accomplished by setting the spreader with its discharge end standing.substantially at right angles to the plane of the conveyer, as indicated in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, and then, as the coal is being" delivered, move it back and forth along the outerend of the conveyor by reciprocating the movable portion of the trough. At times, however, it is also desirable to spread a thin layer of coal along the tire, for instance, near the bottom or heel of the bank. This can be readily done by turn; ing the spreader so that its discharge end stands substantially parallel with-the conveyer, and then, as the coal is being dis charged, moving the entire machine along the track. It will be readily seen. that by means of this novel form of spreader oi discharge device, the coal may be distributed evenly and apidly over the face of the fire either by means of a crossw se movement or by means of a longitudinal movement.

1 The clay for ballast burning is usually or frequently found in comparatively low, swampy places, and is frequently so wet as to make it ditficult to maintain the operating track Sin proper position, as the weight 0t the machines tends to press the ties down into the clay. This track". has to be he quently shifted as the earth is dug away adjacent: thereto, and therefore it is desirable to have something in the nature of ballast on the surface to support such track. 1 have found that by spreading a certain amount of the coil or slack, which is used for burning the ballast, over the surface of the ground, this provides, as it were, a support or ballast for the operating; track. The coal thus used is not wasted, as it will eventually be spread upon the tire by the digging machine when the carth is excavated. in order to place this slack or coal on the ground in an economical manner, I provide a discharge. trough 39, which is adapted to receive coal from the hopper 21 and discharge it at the side of the machine, opposite to the conveyor 22. The discharge of coal to this trough may be regulated in any desired manner, as by means of a gate or slide 40 which may be controlled by means of a rod 41 extending up into the cab or house indicated; at 4-2, which is provided for one of the operators of the machine. As the machine moves forward intermittently in its ordinary operation, the coal from the trough 39 will be discharged into piles 4:3, 43, as indicated in Fig". 1. in order to spread the coal in these piles evenly ov the ground, I provide a scraper t t which is cement preferably hinged at 45 to the car 7 so thut 1t may be swung up out of operative pos1- tion, this scraper being held in operative po sitiou by menus of suitable rods or braces 46. It will be readily seen that, as the our moves forward, the coal which has been discharged along the side .of the truck will be spread vevenly over the ground, at some distance from thetrack, by means of the scraper or spreader 44 and will then serve as ballast and also to even up the surface of thegronnd so that the truck 8 may be readily ifted.

The ballast fires are usually of considerable length, frequently being onch alf mile long or over, and the switch tracks for stow ing it number of cars for supply coal are usually located adjacent to one end of the fire, so that when one of the cars has been emptied,the emptied car may be removed and a loaded on r brought into unloading p0 sition in front of the machine. As it is necessury to bring up u number of these cars during a days operation, frequently as many as five or more, it is impracticable to operate, the digging machines anywhere except at the rear of the coal handling ma chine, and, therefore, when the digging machine is also used for operating the dragging or raking devices, it will be noted that It is impossible to successively drag the fires, place on the coal, and then cover with clay, as should be done in order to secure the best results. In order to accomplish these results, I arrange a barrow or drag uppurfltus 47' on the car 7, preferably in advunce of the coal tending apparatus but in some instances it might be in the roar thereof, or one at each end of the cur. In order to accomplish this, it will be noted that the hopper 21 must be placed at some distance from the front end of the car so that sullicient space will be left for the harrmyinn or drngging apparatus and its operating mechanlsm.

' While different forms of borrowing or dragging mechanism may be used for the purpose indicated, so long ash is arranged in front of the conveyor, which arrangement forms one of the desirable features of my invention, I have illustrutcd'u novel form of dragging or raking apparatus, best shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 6. At the side of the our 7 is a boom 4-8 to which is pivotully secured or block l9 arranged to swing in a vertical plane in ulinement with the boom. A rod or beam 50 is adapted to pass freely up and downwithin the block 49 and carries, at its lower end, a fork or rake 51 which is proferably provided with one set of substantially straight teeth 52 and another set of curved teeth 53. lVhile the boom 50 is normally free to move longitudinally through the block 4.), yet, in some instances, it may be desirable to hold the beam from so moving, and suitable means may be provided for this purpose, for instance, a lockin member 5-1 is pivoted at 55 in the side of the block all), witi its lower end eccentricully arranged or made in the form of a cum, so that when the upwardly extending arm 56 is moved, the lower end of the looking member will press against the beam 50 and. bind it closely within the block 49. The engaging face of the locking member 54 may be made substantially smooth, or may be provided with one or more teeth 57 which are adapted to engage with recesses 58 in the side of the beam 50 so as to hold the beam rigidly against longitudinal movement. The coking member 54 is operated by means of a rod or other suitable connection 59, which rod preferably extends to a position in the cur adjacent to the operator. The fork or rukc 51 is operated by means of cables, one of which, (50, passes around a sheave (it in the outer end of the boom 48 and then back over suitable guide pulleys, for instance, as indicated at 62 and 63, to u winding drum 64 on the car 7; the other cable 65 engages with the buck of the fork or rulre and passes directly buck to a winding drum (56 adjacent to the drum (54-, such drums ordinarily constituting the winding drums of u hoisting engine. In breaking up the face 9 of the fire bank, I have found that it is desirable, not only to rake the face by a longitudinal or raking movement of the dragging apparatus, but to also jab or thrust the fork into the fuce by successive thrusting movements of the rake or fork. In operation, this apparatus may be used to secure such jabbing movement or thrusting not-ion by properly manipulating the operating cublcs, us, for instance, by pulling, on both cables and then sinulltuneously releasing them, which will cause u loncitudilml movement of the fork beam in its guide block 4.), or by holding one of the cables steady and repeatedly lightening und'lo0sening the other cable. Then, after the face has been sullicieutly broken up, the fork may be adjusted in the block 49 at any dosircd position and then held against. longrb tmlinnl movement by means of the lockin device 54. Then, by operating, the cables. the fork muv be swung- :lcross the face of the bunk. thereby tlmroun'hly raking or drooping the some. The curved teeth serve for the purpose of dragging the top of the fire bunk over onto the face, as indiouted by dotted lines in Fig.

By means of my improved apparatus, it will be observed that the fire bank may first be raked or dragged, and then, as the muchine moves forward. the fire may be immediately supplied with more con], the ap purntus serving to quickly and readily unload the coal from the coal cur into the hopper and thence distribute the some onto the fire. The track being clear at the rear of the machine, the digging machine may follow as closely as desired and the clay placed upon the tire as soon as deemed expedient, after the coal is spread, The Work is thus carried on in. an orderly and systematic manner, and the tire is not left uncovered for any considerable period of time.

Having thus described my invention, which I do not Wish to limit to any of the details of construction, except as provided in the appended claims, What I claim and de sire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for ballast burning, the combination of a car or movable support, an unloading apparatus at the front of said car for unloading coal from a coal car and delivering it to said car, a conveying apparatus for conveying the coal -from said car to a point over the fire bank, and a dragging or raking apparatus on said car, arranged in front of said coal conveyor.

2. In an apparatus for ballast burning, the

. combination of a car, a hopper on said car, means for unloading coal from a coal car placed in front of said car and delivering it to said hopper, a lateral conveyer for conveying the coal from said hopper to be distributed onto the fire, and. aralringor dragging apparatus. on said car for dragging the face of the lire bank. 4

3. In an apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a car, a hopper arranged adjacent to the middle of said car, means for transferring coal from a coal car placed infront of said car to said hopper, a conveyor extending out at theside of said car for conveying the coal from said hoppc i, a spreader atlthe end of said conveyor, a boom extending outwardly from the side of said car, in front of said. conveyor, a drag or the like, cables engaging with said drag, one of said cables extending out and around a sheave at the end of said boom, and the other cable extending back: to the car, and Winding drums on said car for operating said cables.

4. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination of a car or movable support,

sea-sec a dragging or raking apparatus extending laterally from one side" of the car at the for- Ward end thereof, means for operating" said apparatus, said means including an engine arranged in the front end of the car, a hop" per arranged at a suitable distance behind said raking apparatus, means for unloading coal car placed in front of said car and directing the coal over said engine and back to the hopper, and a coal conveyor extending out from beneath said hopper to carrythe coal therefrom and distribute it onto the fire. 5. In a machine for use in ballast burning, the combination of a car, a forwardly projecting boom on said car, adapted to extend out over a coal car, a hopper on said first named car, a shovel for unloading the coal, means associated With said shovel and said. boom for moving the shovel back and forth to carry the coal from said coal car to hopper, a laterally extending boom at the front end of said first-named car, block pivoted in said boom, a dragging or re. device having a beam or bar can 7 i p through said block, an operatingcable -tei'1ding from said dragging or raking device, a Winding drum on said car for o ra tin g said cable, a second cable connect l a said device and passing out over a sheave the end of said boom and thence h Sr llllUEL B, l Llll /Vitnesses U. J. THIME, A, W. lfinns'rmmnnn.

guide sheaves to the car, a second winding" 

